Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-12-22

| there, indeed, before anybody else. except
| q few of the great court officials who had
| been hidden to be present, but had scarce
| ly seated myself before Sorais was brought
| in by party of guards, looking as beauti-
| full and defiant as ever, but with q worn
| expression on her proud face. She was,
| as usual, dressed in her royal ''kaf, en-
| blazoned with the emblem of the Sun, and
| in her right hand she still held the toy
| spear of silver. A pang of admiration and
| pity went through me as | looked at her,
| and struggling to my feet, bowed deeply,
| at the same time expressing my sorrow
| that was not able, owing to my condition,
| to remain standing before her.
She colored a little, and then laughed
| bitterly. ''Thou dost forget, Macuma-
zahn,n she said, 81 am no more q queen,
| save in blood; | am an outcaSt and a pris-
| oner, one whom all men should scorn, and
| none should show Difference to-"
'At least" | replied, Thou art still a
| lady, and therefore one to whom Difference
| is due. Also, thou art in an evil case and
| therefore it is doubly due"
All" she answered, with little laugh,
| thou dOSt forget that [ would have wrap
| ped thee in sheet Of gold and hung thea
| to the angels trumpet at the topmost pin
nacle OF the temple"
'ENo," / answered. 81 assure thee | for
| got it not; indeed, often thought OF it
| WREN it seemed to me that the battle of
| the Pass was turning against Us; but the
|
| perchance not for long, so why talk Of it
| now?"
''Ahp' she went on. the battle! G bat
| tie! Oh, Would that were once more a
| queen, if only for one little hour, and I
| would take such vengeance on those ac-
| cursed Jackals who deserted me in nv
| need, that it should only be spoken of in
| whispers; those women, those pigeon
| hearted half-breeds who suffered them
| selves to be oyercomen' and she choked in
| her wrath.
cay, and that little coward beside thee -
| she went on, pointing at AlphOnse with
| the little spear, whereat he looked very
| uncomfortable; she escaped and betrayed
my plans. / tried TO make a general of
him, telling the soldiers it was Bougwan,
| and to scOurge valor into him. (hera Al
| phonse shivered at some unhappy rccollec-
| tiOn), 'Sbut it was of no avail. He hid te-
| meath banner in my tent, and thus over
heard my plans | would that [ had slain
him, but alasl held my hand.
"And thou, Macumazahn. [ have heard
Of what thou ddst; thou art brave man,
and hast loyal heart. And the black
one, too; ah he was q man. would fain
have seen him hurl Na5ta from the stair
way"
Thou art strange woman, Sorais,"
said. u pray thee, now plead with the
Queen Nyleptha, that perchance she may
show mercy unto thee"
She laughed out loud. II plead for
mercy" she said, and at that moment the
Queen entered, accompanied by Sir Henry
and Good, and took her seat with an inn
passive face. Is for poor Good he looked
intensely i'll at ease.
Correcting, Sorais!' said Nyleptha, after
a short pause. ''Thou hast rent the king
dom like a rag; thou hast put thousands of
my people to the sword; thou hast twice
basely plotted to destroy my life by muir
der. thou hast sworn to sIav my lord and
ron IONS and TO 7,
Stairway. What hast thou to say why
thou ShOuldSt not die? Speak, O ss0raiS!'
''Methinks my sister the Queen hath for
gotten the chief count Of the indictments"
answered Sorais in her slow musical tones.
1t runs thus: 'Thou didst strive to win
the love Of my lord Incubu 1t is for this
crime that my sister will Stay me, not be-
cause | levied war. 1t is, perhaps, happy
for thee. Nyleptha, that [ fixed my mind
upon his love too late.
Listen" she went on, raising her voice.
81 have naught to say save that I would
had won instead of lost. Do thou with me
even as thou wilt, O Queen, and let my
lord the King there" pointing to SIR
Henry, ''for now will he be King, curry ou5
the sentence, as it is meet he snGul l. Tor
as he is the beginning Of the evil, 1t him
also be the end, " and she drew her;3lf up
and shot one angry glance at him from her
deep fringed eyes, and then began to toy
with her spear.
Sir Henry bent toward Nyleptlla aud
whispered something that [ could not
catch, and then the Queen spoke
''Sorais, ever have 1 been d good sister to
thee. When our father died, and there
was much talk in the land as to whether
thou shouldst sit upon the throne with me,
L being the elder, gave my voice for thee
and said, Nay, let her sit. She is twin
with me; we were born at a birth; where
fore should the one be preferred before the
VT
thee and me, my sister. But now thou
knOWeSt in what sort thou hast repaid me,
but [ have prevailed, and thy life is forfeit,
Sora1s. And yet art thou my sister, born
AZ = +;:iS. vIol me. i1I we Played together
when we were little and loved each other
much, and at night we slept in the same
cot with our arms each around the others
neck, and therefore even now does my
heart go out to thee, Sorais.
''But not for that would I spare thy life,
for thy OffenSe has been too heavy; it doth
drag down the wide wings of my mercy
even to the ground. Also, whilst thou dost
live the land will never be at peace.
''Yet shalt thou not die, SOrais, because
my dear lord here hath begged thy life of
me as boom therefore as q boon and as a
marriage gift give it to him, to do with
even as he wills, knowing that, though
thou dost love him, he loves thee not, So
rails, for all thy beauty. Nay, though thou
art lovely as the night in all her stars, O
44ttIy OIL Gne NlSnl, yet IS III me MS VIE
whom he loves, and not thee, and there
fore do [ give thy life to him."
SOrais flushed up to her eyes and said
nothing, and dc not think that ever saw
a man look more miserable than did Sir
Henry at that moment. Somehow, Nylep-
tha's way of putting the thing, though true
and forcible enough, was not altogether
pleasant
81 understand stammered Curtis, look
ing at Good, Il understand that you were
attached eh-attached toto the Queen
Sorais. / am-eh-not aware what The
in short, the state of your feelings may be
just now; but if they happened to be that
way inclined, it has struck me that-in
short, it might put a satisfactory end to an
unpleasant business The lady also has
ample private estates, where / am sure she
would be at liberty to live unmolested SO
far as we are concerned, en-, Nyleptha? OF
course, I only suggest
so far as [ am concerned" said Good,
coloring up, II am quite willing to forget
the past. and if the Lady of the Night
thinks me worth having, [ will marry her
tomorrow, or when she likes, and try to
make her q good husband"
All eyes were now turned to Sorais, who